End of the Rainbow at the Churchill Theatre – Review

The enduring legacy of Judy Garland may be considered the preserve of gay men of a certain age but what Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow, a play with songs rather than an all-out musical, reminds us is that hers was a tragedy in which all of our increasingly celebrity-obsessed society is complicit. The play is set in the months leading up to her death in 1969, as desperate to pay off her debtors, her new young fiancé and manager Mickey Deans signed her up for a five week run of cabaret shows at The Talk of the Town though as became clear to see, Garland’s struggles made it a very difficult time.

With the press against her, willing her on to ever more scandalous deeds, friends deserting her as her drug dependencies also pushed away four husbands, and a career that was nosediving as a result of all this drama, Deans was banking on this being the comeback of all comebacks. But Quilter shows us through a number of scenes, that the extremities of her behaviour impossibly strained the relationships in her life, even with her devoted Brighton-based pianist Anthony, her body and mind warped by endless years of being a part of the fame game and unable to deal with being chewed up and spat out by the Hollywood machine.

Paul Taylor Mills and Mercury Theatre, Colchester’s touring production of End of the Rainbow, in association with The Belgrade Theatre, is blessed with a fiercely strong performance from Lisa Maxwell as Garland, an almost disturbing and distressing portrayal of a woman ravaged by addiction, desperate for love and willing to make do with attention. Her slight frame trembles and quivers, even in the lighter moments of her sharp-edged one-liners, and in her determination to get her own way, whether to get the pills or to get off them in one of her more lucid moments, Maxwell is utterly committed and highly watchable.

She’s also a skilled performer, delivering impassioned versions of the songs that Garland made her own – among them The Trolley Song, Come Rain or Come Shine, an extraordinary The Man Who Got Away – Tom Turner’s musical direction full of brassy ballsiness and tender heart too. And as the men in her life, Sam Attwater gives a good account of Deans, making us believe he could well have loved her as well as seeing his meal ticket in her as he struggles to keep a lid on the pill bottles. And Gary Wilmot is entertaining as the gay pianist who worships her, would do anything for her, if only she would say yes.

Daniel Buckroyd’s direction keeps the play moving with a great sense of pace, aided by the smooth transitions of David Shields’ design, from the dated grandeur of the hotel suite to the gaudy glitz onstage at the club. And as Maxwell inhabits Garland for one last time in the stirring rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, it is impossible not be moved. This is a welcome return for End of the Rainbow.

Review by Ian Foster

It’s 1968 and Judy Garland, a once-glittering star, is in London to make her explosive comeback. But off stage, holed up in her hotel room, Judy is battling with her young new fiancé, her devoted accompanist, and her destructive addictions. Will she be able to conquer her demons and reclaim her crown as one of history’s great musical icons? Featuring Garland’s most memorable songs The Man That Got Away, Come Rain Or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and of course Somewhere Over The Rainbow, End of the Rainbow is a fiercely funny and emotionally charged musical play filled with Garland’s legendary tenacity, razor-sharp wit and once-in-a-generation voice.

LISTINGS
Churchill Theatre Bomley
High Street
Bromley, Kent
BR1 1HA
Tuesday 8th – Saturday 13th March 2016 (Tue – Sat 7.30pm Thu & Sat mat 2.30pm)
www.atgtickets.com/bromley

Other Selected Tour Dates
Princess Theatre Torquay Events, Torquay
Tuesday 15th to Saturday 19th March 2016

Theatre Royal Brighton Events, Brighton
Tuesday 29th March to Saturday 2nd April 2016

King’s Theatre, Glasgow Events
Tuesday 26th April to Saturday 30th April 2016

Opera House Manchester Events, Manchester
Tuesday 3rd May to Saturday 7th May 2016

Richmond Theatre Events, Richmond
Tuesday 24th May to Saturday 28th May 2016

New Victoria Theatre Events, Woking
Tuesday 7th June to Saturday 11th June 2016

New Alexandra Theatre Events Birmingham,
Tuesday 21st June to Saturday 25th June 2016